More than 1,075 residents in Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties safely dropped off a total of 2,811 pounds of unused medications and 728 pounds of syringes during a multi-site drug take-back event on Saturday, April 24.

The medication disposal event was held at seven locations in three Southwest Washington counties and was organized by local youth substance use prevention coalitions, law enforcement agencies, community business partners, and volunteers.

“It’s inspiring to see so many members of the community committed to keeping medications out of the environment and to protecting their children and families from possible misuse and accidental poisoning from prescription drugs,” said Kelley Groen-Sieckmann, community prevention specialist with the Prevent Coalition and ESD 112. “Knowing that our prevention work is resonating with people is a huge win for prevention coalitions across the Southwest Washington region.”

All discarded medications were secured in boxes and will be transported for incineration by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Prevent Coalition would like to thank PeaceHealth Southwest Urgent Care, Kaiser Permanente Cascade Park, the Battle Ground Police Dept., Washougal Silver Star Search & Rescue, the Cowlitz Indian Tribal Public Safety Dept., the Skamania County Sheriff and the Klickitat County Sherriff’s Office for hosting the seven event sites.

Drug take-back events have been organized by prevention coalitions in Clark County since 2010. The events are now held twice a year (April and October) in multiple counties, and in partnership with the Washington State Health Care Authority and DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.

For those that missed Saturday’s drug take-back event, unwanted medications can be disposed of year-round at several collection sites across Southwest Washington. Prescription and over-the-counter medication including controlled substances, such as painkillers and tranquilizers, can be taken to participating law enforcement agencies and pharmacies. Sharps and syringes can be taken for free disposal to local participating transfer and recovery centers.

Visit www.med-project.org to find nearby collection sites that accept medicine for safe, free disposal or to order pre-paid postage envelopes to dispose of medicine by mail. Do not flush or throw away unused medicine as it can be misused, cause accidental poisonings and pollute the environment and our drinking water.

If you or someone you know is suffering from addiction to opioids, now is the time to get help. Programs are available across Washington state to help you live an opioid-free life. Find out more at www.GetTheFactsRx.com.

Click here to share the ESD 112 article.

"Welcome to the Prevent Coalition Podcast. We're sharing stories and strategies to help coalitions and organizations reach their full potential."

Listen at preventcoalition.podbean.com. The podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, the Apple Podcast app and other familiar streaming services.

• Episode 0 - Welcome
• Episode 1 - Rural Network
• Episode 2 - Policy Change
• New --> Episode 3: Secure Your Cannabis

Episodes archived at preventcoalition.org/events/news/.

A message from Clark County STASHA:

Better You BINGO: A Healthy Coping Challenge for Youth by Youth

Better You BINGO is a tool that invites other youth ages 12-19 from the community to participate in a self-paced "healthy coping challenge" that introduces them to or leads them to complete activities that will focus on healthy coping skills for a chance to win a healthy coping themed PRIZE. Some examples of the challenges that youth will be presented with include reduced screen time, recognizing nature, and taking time to exercise.

A CHANCE TO WIN? We will be drawing up to 40 Clark County Youth winners who can select from a list of prizes that all promote healthy coping skills, such as disc golf Frisbee sets, basketballs, soccer balls, gratitude journals, or a $10 gift card to Michaels or Jo-Ann Fabrics, among many other options!

Although the Better You BINGO challenge is mostly on Instagram, STASHA is also accepting entries by email, using the printable versions of the BINGO card that we attached to this email along with instructions on how to participate. They can print these out or mark them some other way and send their BINGO card with either a picture, video, or anecdote of the coping skill(s) they completed to clarkcountystasha@gmail.com. We understand how important privacy is for the youth you work with and that is why STASHA is accepting entries by email, pictures without their faces shown, and even short anecdotes instead of pictures. More details about how to participate on the flyer (attached)!

We know how busy you are so we included a sample email below that you can edit and pass along to your youth if you would like. Please feel free to adapt the sample email to fit your needs and voice.

Challenge starts on 4/20, and participants can begin anytime between 4/20 and 5/20 at their own pace. STASHA was intentional about launching on 4/20. They selected this start date as a way to take back 4/20 and make it a day about celebrating making healthy decisions. For more information about STASHA and Better You BINGO, visit www.clarkcountystasha.org.

The mission at Beacon Health Options is to help people live their lives to the fullest potential. Everything they do is focused on improving the health of people under our care. Putting people at the center, Beacon’s system is built on a strong support structure of doctors, nurses, therapists, advocates, and mentors fulfilling members’ behavioral, physical, and social health needs.

Their vision focuses on improving the health and well-being of individuals coping with mental health and substance use conditions. Beacon makes this vision a reality through recovery-focused programs and effective partnerships with our clients and providers.

During Mental Health Awareness month Beacon wants to share the video (above) highlighting local resources in Clark, Klickitat and Skamania counties, as well as offering even more information on their website should the need arise.

Click here to see all they have to offer and support.

National Prevention Week is a public education platform that promotes prevention year-round through providing ideas, capacity building, tools, and resources to help individuals and communities make substance use prevention happen every day.

Here's how to get started:

• Download the toolkit in English or Spanish.
• Register for the May 10 kickoff webinar: The power of prevention: How to leverage National Prevention Week (NPW) for effective community prevention strategies
• Participate in this year's Prevention Challenge by identifying youth leaders in your community and encouraging them to create and post videos to social media about their prevention efforts. Tag @SAMHSAgov and use the hashtag #YouthLeadingPrevention.
  
• Host a community event.

We recognize Mental Health Month in May and support behavioral health care. We hope you'll find these resources from The National Council helpful. Access:

• Facts & Figures
• Sample Social Media Messaging
• Mental Health First Aid
• Other National Council Resources
• and more!

Click here to learn more.

A message from Clark County STASHA:

Applications will be open between April 2021 - May 2021.

The Clark County STASHA (Strong Teens Against Substance Hazards and Abuse) Peer Education Program is recruiting youth ages 12-19 to fill vacant positions for the 2021-2022 program year.

STASHA stands for Strong Teens Against Substance Hazards and Abuse. Most simply put, we are a nonjudgmental and inclusive group of Clark County youth preventing youth drug and alcohol use, using our words and in our own way. We work to encourage healthy behavior, build resilience, provide coping resources and support to youth in our community. However, within our prevention work, STASHA creates connections and bonds with those we impact, and we demonstrate how connection is the best prevention.

Who should apply: If you are 12 to 19 years old, live in Clark County, and want to help other teens learn healthy coping skills and how to be resilient, YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY APPLY!!! No volunteer experience, prevention knowledge, or leadership experience is required to apply. One of the best parts of STASHA is that this is the perfect place to learn new skills without having to worry about what everyone thinks because we get what it's like. We value having people with diverse backgrounds and experiences join our group because we are able to learn from each other's experiences and become stronger peer educators. STASHA needs member representation from youth who have had past use/experimentation but are no longer using, youth who are in recovery, and youth who have never used substances. All of these voices are needed in prevention work!
​
What would be expected of you: All STASHA members must commit to serving at least a one-year term (September to June), although many of us love it so much that we commit to serving more. We meet the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month from 6:30-8:30 pm so it's really important to us that you're able to attend general meetings. We also meet in smaller groups so we can successfully carry out the projects we design. In all, it's pretty normal we each volunteer 4-8 hours each month. If accepted, you will have to attend our Annual STASHA Fall Training which is mandatory. Specific details about the training are still to be determined, though it may take place through video conference or in person while practicing safe social distancing. Lastly, because of the work we do, it is important you are committed to being drug and alcohol free as a STASHA member.

​Contact us with any questions about how to apply.

A message from the Division of Behavioral Health & Recovery:

Registration for the 2021 Washington State Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) is open and will end June 30th. Schools in Washington state with students in grades 6, 8, 10, or 12 are eligible to participate. Participation is free to schools in 2021.

This survey is a joint effort between the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), Department of Health (DOH), the Health Care Authority’s Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (HCA/DBHR), and the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB).

he 2021 HYS will be 100% electronic.

The HYS is now an electronic survey (e-survey). HYS was redesigned to be administered electronically with students in the classroom or doing online learning. If your school is unable to administer the survey online, please contact Health Care Authority at HCAHealthyYouthSurvey@hca.wa.gov to discuss your options.

Survey Details

• The HYS will be administered during the weeks of October 11-29.
• The survey takes about 50 minutes and should be administered during a class period.

• Parents and students must be notified about the survey using the approved survey notification letter and methods. Schools must also verify that they followed the proper notification by September 24th.
• Student participation is completely voluntary and anonymous.
• An alternative activity must be available for those students that choose not to participate in the survey.
• Small school districts can also survey additional grades 7, 9 and 11.

To register your school(s), log into www.AskHYS.net and select “Registration”, from the 2021 HYS drop down menu. If you need an AskHYS login, contact your district data security manager to add AskHYS to your OSPI EDS permissions.

• If you registered your school(s) for HYS 2020, you can quickly re-register your school. Log into www.AskHYS.net and select “Registration” from the 2021 HYS drop down menu and update your information.

What kinds of questions are asked?

The survey includes questions regarding alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; community, school, and family risk and protective factors; safety and violence; diet and nutrition; health, health care, and exercise.

Optional questions:

• Sexual behavior and sexual abuse questions are optional for students in grade 8 to 12. Schools can request the optional questions on the registration form.
• Sexual orientation and gender identity questions are now included on the survey for students in grades 8 to 12. If schools do not want to ask the sexual orientation and gender identity questions, they can apply for an exemption by contacting the Health Care Authority at HCAHealthyYouthSurvey@hca.wa.gov.
• Sexual orientation, gender identify, sexual behavior and sexual abuse questions are not asked to students in 6 and 7th grade.

If you have questions about HYS registration, please contact Susan Richardson, Looking Glass Analytics, at surveyadmin@askHYS.net.

If you have any questions about the HYS, please contact Emily Maughan, at 360-725-6030, or email hys@k12.wa.us. The OSPI TTY number is 360-664-3631.

A message from from Clark County Communications:

The Clark County Board of Health is seeking applicants for three positions on the volunteer Public Health Advisory Council. The three-year terms begin as soon as the positions are filled and end Sept. 30, 2024.

The board is accepting applications from Clark County residents for the following positions:

• A Clark County consumer of public health services.
• A representative from a Clark County social/human services agency.
• A representative from the Clark County Youth Commission or Clark County Youth House or a representative of local area high schools or colleges.

The advisory council meets 5:30-7:30 pm on the second Tuesday of every even month via Zoom. When in-person meetings resume, they will be 6-8 pm in the main conference room on the second floor of the Center for Community Health, 1601 E Fourth Plain Blvd.

The Public Health Advisory Council makes recommendations to the county councilors in their capacity as the Board of Health. The advisory council identifies needs and suggests ways to enhance community health. Among the council's top priorities are addressing adverse childhood experiences, community health improvement planning and support for healthy children.

Clark County Public Health protects the community’s health by preventing disease, responding to health threats and reducing health disparities. The department promotes healthy communities and environments, health equity, and disease and injury prevention. With community partners, Public Health works to promote healthier choices; ensure the safety of food and water; reduce environmental waste and contamination; and protect people from disease outbreaks through monitoring, early detection and swift response.

Those interested in an appointment to the advisory council should submit a brief letter of interest and résumé to Michelle Pfenning, County Manager’s Office, PO Box 5000, Vancouver 98666-5000.

Applications can also be emailed to michelle.pfenning@clark.wa.gov.

Applications will be accepted until the positions are filled.

Matt Cox at Prevent Coalition & ESD 112 created a window cling campaign for rural areas of Southwest Washington who do not restrict the use of vaping products indoors or have ordinances regarding vaping in public. These window clings appear in the windows of community buildings, businesses, schools, and more. The message "We love clean air" is promoted in addition to, "Thank you for not vaping." Partners are welcome to use this tool and modify to your community needs. There are multiple background options (above) to select from that represent different geographic areas of state.

Benefits of a Window Cling:

• Optional – not an ordinance or a law, each business or building owner chooses to participate.
• Educates and creates awareness of vaping issues.
• Encourages businesses to develop their own vaping policies inside their establishment. and outside their door, and train staff how to react to potential vaping incidents.
• Businesses can inform their customers so they know its safe inside (especially for kids).
• Businesses can communicate a commitment to the health of their staff and customers.
• Great way to engage community, especially youth, in prevention activities such as distribution of the window clings.

Facts about Vaping in Public Places laws in Washington State:

• The Washington Vapor Products Law explicitly provides local jurisdictions the authority to restrict the use of vapor products in indoor public places and in outdoor public areas where children congregate, such as schools, playgrounds, and parks (RCW 70.345.210).
• Currently, local boards of health in 12 of Washington’s 39 counties have acted to pass regulations on vaping in public places under their authority to protect public health (RCW 70.05).
• Despite significant progress in the enactment of local prohibitions on vaping in public places, about a quarter of Washington State’s population are potentially exposed to secondhand vape emissions in public places.

Access the window cling template and tools on the Prevent rural resources page.

Thanks to your support we've gathered over 200 photos from across Washington that reflect rural lifestyle and culture. The toolkit workgroup is reviewing submissions before publishing online - but there's still time to add yours! Submission deadline: May 31, 2021.

What do rural communities look like?

What does it mean to be rural?

What are the greatest strengths in your community?

We would like to capture all of the above, and more, in photos of rural communities across the state. We're building an online "stock photo library" of pictures that rural community members, like you, submit to us.

There is a significant lack of representation in marketing and promotional materials that accurately reflect rural lifestyle and culture. We would like to address this together so that our partners, supporters, and members can use appropriate images in prevention campaigns, fliers, posters, social media, and more.

All images will be reviewed by our Toolkit Workgroup committee before being included in our online toolkit. The online toolkit should be published in June of 2021. Any images of youth or minors will require a permission form that can be signed online by parents and guardians at the time of submission, or at a later date.

The Rural Network is gathering stories of success and innovation to create an online gallery of ways people have overcome obstacles, adapted prevention materials, or created new implementation strategies for prevention.

Eventually, all submissions will be available online in a gallery that will help members and prevention practitioners become more innovative in their approaches to this work.

• Photo Toolkit: We're developing an online library of rural photos. These will be used for prevention campaigns, media, flyers, and more. Submit photos today! Click here to access the submission form.
• Story Toolkit: We're developing a collection of success stories, lessons learned, and ways for adapting programs to rural areas. Click here to take the five minute survey.
• Website: Our designer is currently making a password-protected toolkit page that will host everything toolkit related. To be released by June 2021.
• Map: Visit the map of coalitions across Washington. Did we miss someone? Let us know! Also, it is on our next year's Action Plan to update the original maps outlining rural areas of Washington once we have public access to the 2020 Census results.
• Assessment: Click here to access the second part of the Needs Assessment, which includes a sample of Healthy Youth Survey from rural areas across Washington.
• Organization Training: During the April and May monthly meetings, we're hiring a CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) trainer, Dave Shavel, to support our network in planning for the upcoming fiscal year and building capacity within our membership.
• Recruitment: We are working on a variety of ways to make it easier for our members to talk about the Rural Network and share our opportunities with peers. These include remodeling our website, making custom coalition "Post Cards," amore.
• Evaluation: During the June monthly meeting, our members will participate in a coalition assessment to understand how the Rural Network can improve, evaluate if we've met our goals, and more.

For a full grant progress timeline visit www.preventcoalition.org/rural/our-work/.

Prevent Coalition events:

Rural Office Hours

Wednesday May 5

1-2 p.m.

Online conference call.

For Rural Network members or prospective members seeking T/A.

Locks Save Lives Phase 2 Stakeholder Committee

Wednesday May 19

10-11:30 a.m.

Online conference call.

For stakeholders of the campaign and opioid prevention partners.

Rural Network Meeting

Tuesday May 25

2-3:30 p.m.

Online conference call.

For rural volunteers, representatives & leaders across Washington.

Coalition Coordinators Meeting

Thursday May 27

9:30-11 a.m.

Online conference call.

For Coalition Coordinators & staff in SW Washington.

Click for full calendar of coalition and community events.

Relevant events not sponsored by Prevent Coalition:

5/6 Webinar: Foundations of Prevention Science: Risk Factors

5/10 Webinar: The Power of Prevention: Leveraging National Prevention Week (NPW)

5/13 Webinar: Foundations of Prevention Science: Protective Factors

5/13 Webinar: The Role of Preventionists in Accelerating Health Equity and Communities of Wellbeing

5/15 Webinar: Addressing Norms, Attitudes, and Misperceptions in Cannabis Prevention & Education by Jason Kilmer

5/17 Webinar: Introduction to Substances Use Prevention

5/19 Webinar: COVID & Behavioral Health: Now What?

5/20 Webinar: Foundations of Prevention Science: Measuring Risk & Protective Factors

5/24 Webinar: Fostering Cultural Competency by CADCA

5/26 Saying It Out Loud Virtual Conference

5/29 Youth Mental Health First Aid (Virtual)

6/28 Webinar: Community Readiness & Coalition Effectiveness by CADCA

7/1 Webinar: Logic Models – The Road Map to Success by CADCA

7/22: Webinar: Coalition Evaluation Made Easy…and Useful – Really! by CADCA

8/25 Webinar: Fidelity in Environmental Prevention by CADCA

Our mission is connecting and supporting communities to build resilience and prevent youth substance use. We envision a healthy, thriving community free of substance abuse.

Forward this newsletter to a friend, colleague or youth leader. You may also pass our news link along: bit.ly/preventnews.

Email: preventcoalition@esd112.org
Website: www.PreventCoalition.org
Location: 2500 NE 65th Ave., Vancouver, WA, USA
Phone: 360-952-3457
Facebook: Facebook.com/PreventCoalition
Twitter: @supportyouthnow